A twice-weekly syndicated newspaper column on California public affairs.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

WHY SIX CALIFORNIAS FAILED: IT’S A LOUSY IDEA

CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2014 OR THEREAFTER

BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“WHY SIX CALIFORNIAS FAILED: IT’S A
LOUSY IDEA”

There is little doubt about why the
putative “Six Californias” ballot initiative that Silicon Valley billionaire
Tim Draper hoped to put on the 2016 ballot failed: It was and is a terrible
idea.

This measure appeared to be a shoo-in
to make the next ballot for which it was eligible. Draper had almost limitless
funds and put petition circulators at thousands of storefront doorways in
the present California. The going rate paid to circulators can run upwards of
$5 per valid signature. Draper put $5.2 million behind his measure to fracture
the nation’s largest existing state.

And yet, it failed miserably. It was
the worst failure in the modern era for any proposed citizen initiative with
respectable financial support. Draper needed 807,615 valid voter signatures to
get his measure onto the ballot. He submitted more than 1 million in June,
and it became almost a foregone conclusion that his measure would qualify.

But when county election officials
around the state reviewed signatures at random to see how many were valid, they
concluded that only about 750,000 were really those of registered voters, the
rest coming mostly from non-registered folks stopped by the circulators who
signed petitions just to end the pestering.

If the reviewers’ projection had come
within 15,000 of the required number, Draper would have gotten an automatic
canvass of all signatures. But that won’t happen now.

Why did the entrepreneur fall short?
The best guess here is that many annoyed store customers accosted by
circulators had seen or read a little about the idea and realized it was no good.
So – in a resounding confirmation of the merits of the initiative process –
many refused to sign.

And the idea really does – did –
stink. Imagine for a moment what the bidding for Tesla Motors’ new lithium ion
“gigafactory” might have been like if six Californias and not just one had been
involved in the competition. As it is, Nevada will pay a bribe of about $1.35
billion for the privilege of hosting this facility near Reno. What might
the proposed state of Central California, home to the existing California’s
proposed location in Stockton, have offered? If six Californias had become
reality, Central California would have begun as America’s poorest state. Had
its new officials topped Nevada’s bid and offered more than the $78,000 the
Silver State will pay for each new job Tesla creates or spawns, it would be
even poorer.

What might West California, home to
Los Angeles, have bid? Or the desert-dominated South California?

That’s just one example of how each of
these regions becoming a separate state could have hurt them all.

The reality is that Draper’s plan to
fragment California – and he says he’s not giving up – is one of the goofiest,
dopiest ideas ever seen in a state known for nutty schemes.

Draper says he’s motivated by a belief
that the existing California is “ungovernable.” But he wants to create six
sets of bureaucracies where now there is one. They wouldn’t necessarily have
identical regulations, and there’s no guarantee any or all would enjoy the
property tax protections of the existing Proposition 13. Or the clean drinking
water assured under Proposition 65. Or the low auto insurance rates ensured by
Proposition 108. Each new state would set its own rules, without regard to the
others. So what could be built in the Los Angeles County city of Pomona might
not be legal in nearby Chino, in San Bernardino County, for just one example.

There would also be the state of
Jefferson, comprising a slew of counties in California’s northernmost region.
This one would not have even one University of California campus, which could
leave residents paying $36,000 a year in tuition if they attend a UC.

Anyone who thinks it’s tough to get
water policy agreements from one Legislature would suddenly be faced with six.
Good luck. How would any of this make the land area that’s now California
easier to governable?

But Californians won’t be facing these
potential problems and a lot of others anytime soon, because many had the good
sense not to sign. Which is itself a sign that despite its many critics, the
initiative system actually can work very well.

-30-

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His
book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and
the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover
fourth edition. For more
Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Me

Thomas Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column, appearing twice weekly in 88 newspapers around California, with circulation over 2.2 million.
He has won numerous awards from organizations like the National Headliners Club, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Los Angeles Press Club, and the California Taxpayers Association. He has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize in distinguished commentary.
Elias is the author of two books, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government's Campaign to Squelch It" (now in its third edition; also published in Japanese and recently optioned for a television movie) and "The Simpson Trial in Black and White," co-authored with the late Dennis Schatzman.